We are proud to share that Julián Cortés Urquijo of the Sociology of Development and Change Group will be defending his PhD thesis titled “ Dancing with enemies, Emancipatory peace and the politics of reincorporation in Post-Accord Colombia” on Thursday, June 5, at 10:30 AM in the Omnia Auditorium, Wageningen.
When: Thursday, June 5, at 10:30 AM
Where: Omnia, Wageningen University
Reception
After the defence and graduation, a short reception will be held from 12:00 to 13:00 at the Omnia building. Please let us know if you will attend the PhD defence, reception, and whether you would like to receive a printed copy of the PhD thesis by filling out the confirmation form at the latest by 1 June 2025.
Copy of PhD thesis
An electronic copy of the PhD thesis is available here (as PDF), and printed copies will be available at Omnia at the time of the defence.
Delicious Lunch & drinks
Finally, a delicious lunch and drinks are offered from 13:30 onwards in ‘Het Punt’, Leeuweriksweide 144, Wageningen to you to acknowledge your important role in Julian’s life and career. We hope to see you here as well! If you’d like to join lunch with us, please fill in this Second confirmation form.
Online Streaming
For those unable to attend in person, the defence will be streamed live at https://wur.yuja.com. To access, click on ‘Notification Icon‘/‘Events’ and select Julián Cortés’ name. The livestream will only be activated 5 minutes before the defence. Please find more information and instructions here.
About the research
Julian’s research investigates the quest for an emancipatory peace among ex-FARC-EP insurgents in Colombia participating in reintegration programmes. The drive for emancipatory peace often conflicts with a neoliberal perspective on peace, which emphasises market-oriented solutions, entrepreneurship, a reduction of state involvement in social services delivery, and a focus on individualism. Both peacebuilding approaches co-exist in reintegration programmes, and generate a mixture of practices that absorb stakeholders’ competing agendas. This research explores the experiences of ex-insurgents as they strive to shape their own vision of peace and highlights the challenges this poses in the context of the neoliberal peace model.
Drawing from his background as a former insurgent involved in reintegration, the author adopts the perspective of a militant ethnographer to examine the reintegration experiences of individuals participating in various programmes and initiatives organised by the Colombian government and international cooperation agencies. It is analysed emancipatory peace through the lens of the Sociology of Absences and Emergencies, Emancipatory Peace and Post-insurgent Political Reconversion, as well as a number of concepts deriving from a variety of theoretical frameworks such as Political Economy of Peacebuilding, Solidarity Economy and Autonomic Design.
The author argues that the crucial debate in peacebuilding is about emancipation. This concept comes to life as communities create peace scenarios where diverse perspectives on peace collide, resulting in hybrid forms of reincorporation. Though hybrid, these peacebuilding formations nevertheless incorporate an enduring search for social justice and emancipation that former rebels do not entirely abandon. He illustrates this idea through the metaphor of ‘dancing with enemies’ — the title of this thesis.
Centre for Space, Place and Society 